Mexico held on to beat Panama 1-0 in a friendly at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois ahead of the start of CONCACAF Hexagonal qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Juan Carlos Osorio's largely experimental side were out of sync for most of the first half and unable to get anything going against a Panama team that is known to be hard-working and tough to break down.
And that proved to be the case as the teams went to the dressing room in a goalless draw after 45 minutes.
Giovani dos Santos, back with the national team for the first time since the 2015 Gold Cup, played a perfect cross into Oribe Peralta in front of the Panama goal in the 59th minute and the Club America striker poked home to give El Tri its opener.
The goal was Peralta's 24th for Mexico, tying him for second place in goals scored by active players with Andres Guardado.
Playing with the lead seemed to calm Osorio's team down and the began to force the issue with Panama -- Hirving Lozano blazing over the crossbar in the 73rd minute and Luis Robles firing just wide of the goal in the 80th.
Next up for Mexico is a World Cup qualifier against the United States on Nov. 11 in Columbus, Ohio.